Mango wood

brucemoffatt

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Is mango wood from the mango tree or is it called mango wood because it is a mango colour?

I saw some reviews that say that mango wood ukes have interesting tone. For those who know about these things, how would you describe the tone of a mango wood uke in comparison with say solid mahogany, koa, and spruce top/mahogany body? I'm thinking concert size if that helps.

I know this is probably going to sound naive, and the best answer might be 'it depends' but aside from that is anyone game to have a stab at it?

Cheers
 
Mya Moe's acoustics of wood explanation.
Mango
Sapele (relative of mahogany)
Koa

You'll notice they list koa as warmer than mahogany...in my limited experience, I find the opposite to be true but I do find the rest of their ratings to be pretty accurate.
 
hi Bruce

I love ukes made out of mango. I have two and they are both very sweet sounding. Yeah, not as "warm" or mellow as koa or mahogany, but not as bright as spruce, or perhaps as thin as maple. To me it's just on the warm side of centre. That suits me fine, as it's got a beautifully balanced tone that still has the cut-trhough crispness at the treble end but also the richness and warmth of the lower end. Great wood choice for ukes in my opinion as it is nice and well rounded...best of both worlds.
 
I think Mango is a very underrated tonewood. It has a great open sound, it's very lively and has good volume. It really is great stuff.
 
Not sure how accurate this is, and I would appreciate it if a luthier or two chimed in-

Spalted Mango, I've been told, is rarely solid wood and is usually laminate because spalting is a fungal I fection in the wood.

Also, spalting can change the sound quality, as it can changed the tonal properties of woods.

Alot of Mango wood around my home (South Florida). I've not seen anyone around here sell locally made Ukes though. Almost everything in stores is mass produced and low to mid-level quality. In fact, the Lanikai Spalted Mango and Spalted Maple are about the best you'll see in stores around here.
 
Not sure how accurate this is, and I would appreciate it if a luthier or two chimed in-

Spalted Mango, I've been told, is rarely solid wood and is usually laminate because spalting is a fungal I fection in the wood.

Also, spalting can change the sound quality, as it can changed the tonal properties of woods.

Alot of Mango wood around my home (South Florida). I've not seen anyone around here sell locally made Ukes though. Almost everything in stores is mass produced and low to mid-level quality. In fact, the Lanikai Spalted Mango and Spalted Maple are about the best you'll see in stores around here.
I would be a little careful of the spalted stuff. You are correct, the spalted areas can be a little punky. Personally, if I work with any spalted material, I will soak the area with some super glue to stabilize it. But I doubt a production company would take the time to do this.
 
Yup spatted wood is an bacterial infection...and breathing the dust is not good for you health either.....
 
I have a solid mango (not spalted) Mainland tenor. I would rate it closer to koa than to mahogany. Like koa it's got very complex tonal characteristics when strung with the right strings. Hard to explain exactly what I mean. It's not just a matter of "bright" versus "mellow." To me both Koa and Mango sound like they produce a richer set of overtones than mahogany. I don't think of "warmth" as being a characteristic of bright vs. dark. You can have a bright, warm uke, a dark, warm uke, a bright cold uke, a dark, dull uke, etc. To me, "warmth" is that complexity of tone that makes you sit up and want to get closer to the source of the music. I don't think of Koa as "bright" at all - it's way more mellow than spruce, though not quite as "dark" as mahogany, for sure. Still, I don't think of it as bright so much as very complex and interesting. In my admittedly limited experience (one mango uke, two koas, a couple of cedars, etc) I find that mango has much of that same complexity.

If we were audiophools talking about $20k stereo systems I'd describe Koa as the most "three dimensional," mango as a step down, and mahogany a step down from mango. LOL
 
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